THOSE who took part in a charity walk at Launceston on Sunday had chance to find out more about the long-awaited expansion of their medical centre.

Chairman of the Launceston Medical Centre Patient Participation Group (PPG) Joan Heaton and vice-chair Les Whaley were on hand at Launceston Town Hall, following the ‘Val Walks Tall’ event, with a stall, handing out leaflets about ‘your new, improved medical centre’, and encouraging people to have their say on the plans.

Mrs Heaton said: “After five years of complex negotiations, we are delighted that Launceston Medical Centre is now able to proceed with its much needed expansion plan. It is anticipated that construction will start by the end of 2018 and work has been planned to cause as little disruption as possible to patients and staff.

“We’ll keep you updated on progress and the impact that will have on patients through the local media and with public information sessions.

“In the two months before construction starts, patients are invited to ask questions about the plans and to put forward their ideas for the expanded and re-vamped medical centre.”

The leaflet explains what will be different when expansion plans are completed.

The new wing at the back of the medical centre will be two storeys high but, to ensure easy access for patients, all the consulting rooms will remain on the ground floor.

The extra space will mean that more doctors will be available to patients, that there will be training facilities for staff and will enable the practice to train a junior doctor.

When expansion is complete, there will be more consulting rooms, more car parking spaces — with space to the front and rear of the extended medical centre, and more admin space. Plus there will be a new road linking the car parks, a new one-way system to enter and leave the medical centre — entering via Landlake Road and exiting via the hospital road, a meeting room and an additional waiting area.

Development work is scheduled to start in August. Phase one is expected to take about nine months and consist of the construction of the new build.

That work should have zero impact on the practice because the building will be erected independently of the existing building.

Phase two will last about three months and will see the linking of the town buildings. During this process, the main server will be moved to the new building.

Phase three should take about three months and during that period, one side of the building (housing doctors’ consulting rooms) will be closed for refurbishment. However, the doctors will be able to use the new build.

Phase four — in this three-month period, the remaining rooms will be refurbished and two rooms at the side will be demolished to provide space for the new road linking the front and back car parks and providing the one-way system for vehicles entering and leaving the medical centre.

The leaflets handed out on Sunday have space for comments, and completed slips can be dropped in the suggestion box at the medical centre.